Brenden Sherratt as Dave, Eric Da Costa as Malcolm and Graham Duench as Jerry star in K-W Musical Productions’ The Full Monty, playing to Feb. 22 at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse.

The art of the tease

By Bob Vrbanac, Chronicle Staff

Will the or won’t they will be the question on everyone’s mind as they watch K-W Musical Productions’ The Full Monty starting Feb. 13.

The musical, based on the hit British comedy, is about a group of regular blokes from Buffalo hit hard by job loss who come up with a harebrained scheme to make a little mad money by staging a Chippendale-style review for the local ladies.

Will they go the full monty, a British idiom for going all the way, as the title suggests? A mature audience warning for the show being staged at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse suggests those in the audience will have to be en garde.

But while that sense of mystery and buildup is part of the show’s attraction, Brendan Sherratt, who plays Dave in the show, said it’s the heart displayed by the characters that is central to the story’s popularity with audiences.

“For me this is all about the story,” said Sherratt. “And the story in this one is incredibly heart warming, incredibly moving and incredibly funny.

“When I heard that they were doing this show, I said, ‘No, I’m not going to do it.’ But I watched the movie again, watched some YouTube videos and listened to the sound track and I was absolutely blown away by this musical.”

Sherratt, who has performed in a number of KWMP productions over the years, admits this is a new one for him. He’s never taken it all off before anywhere else but in the privacy of his own home, so he doesn’t know what inspired him to possibly do it on stage.

“I’d like to go on the record that I’m not an exhibitionist at all,” said Sherratt. “To say this pushes my boundaries is an understatement.”

But while he doesn’t normally like to bare all, he doesn’t mind baring the soul of a character like Dave. Sherratt said they have a lot in common.

His character has some self-esteem issues brought on by job loss. It has Dave feeling less than virile, and has caused some problems in his marriage due to the lack of intimacy.

Dave’s belief in himself as a husband and provider are undercut by his continued underemployment.

“Dave is a bigger guy like me, and he’s dealing with low self-confidence and body-image issues after being unemployed for 18 months,” said Sherratt. “He feels like he’s a piece of dirt no matter how supportive his wife is — who is incredibly supportive — he just doesn’t hear that.”

Sherratt, who works in the local tech sector and recently lost his job when the startup he was working for had a failure to launch, can relate.

“Those themes really echoed for me,” said Sherratt. “I’m a recently unemployed tech worker in the region and I’m also a bigger guy.

“All those things ring true for me in my life, so I knew that I had to at least give this a try.”

Sherratt thinks the audience can relate to the story too, with downsizing in the tech sector and the recovery from the latest recession still ongoing.

“It’s something that a lot of people can relate to as well,” said Sherratt. “Especially the guys in the audience — there’s a lot they can relate to in this show other than the last two seconds.

“We all know what’s going to happen in the last two seconds, although I like to tease and tell people they have to come and find out by seeing the show.”

Sorry to disappoint ladies, but Sherratt isn’t going to spoil the surprise ending.

In the end, it’s about getting over the belief that who we are is tied up in what we do. Without that crutch there is a lot of wonderful self-discovery to be done, and some really touching moments to share on the journey to get there for the characters and the actors who portray them.

“This is about this group of men coming together and overcoming those things that hold you back — the demons we all have and the battle against low self-confidence,” said Sherratt. “That journey is what makes this story amazing.

“It really relates to what’s going on in the region right now.”

The Full Monty plays Feb. 13 to Feb. 22 at St. Jacobs and is part of the celebrations of KWMP’s 65th season. For more information, or tickets, visit www.kwmp.ca.